


It's an Art

by Ilthit



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Aromantic, Brothers, Ficlet, Gen, Wordcount: 500-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 09:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19461181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilthit/pseuds/Ilthit
Summary: Flirting 101, for a prompt from StillSyns@tumblr and a square in trope-bingo@dreamwidth. Aro!Reynir, because why not.





	It's an Art

"So Hekla, huh?" said Bjarni, handing Reynir a sandwich as he sat down beside him on the porch. 

"Hm?" 

The weather was cool, but not yet so cold as to drive the boys back inside, not when dad was cooking. Dad cooking was always... an event. The sun lingered on the high over the mountain range, but they had lit the torches by the gate already. Hekla waved back with a grin, then pulled her hands close to her chest and raced off down the path, giggling. 

"You like Hekla," Bjarni said, as if he was explaining a basic concept. 

"Yes?"

"So how long has that been going on?"

"Bjarni." Reynir grinned at his brother. "We've been friends since we were three. Don't you remember?"

"No, I mean--" Reynir waited for the rest of that sentence while Bjarni's face ran through several contortions. "You don't see it, do you."

"Bjarni, come on!" Reynir blew a stray strand of hair out of his eye. "It's not like that."

"It is for her."

"You don't know that."

"I watched you two for the past two minutes." 

"You watched us--"

"Shush, I was bored. The point is she was flirting right in your face. You tell me you didn't notice?"

"That's just Hekla," said Reynir, but even as he did, doubt began to creep in. "So, like, when she leaned in to get a leaf out of my hair--"

"The invisible leaf. Yeah."

"Or the compliments..."

"And the teasing."

Reynir grew quiet. Hekla could still be seen through the open fields. She was no longer running, but skipping. As if she was... happy. "Oh no."

Bjarni laughed. "God! I know you're not stupid, little brother, but sometimes you are _so stupid_."

Reynir covered his hand with his mouth. "Don't laugh. She'll be so mad at me!"

"I take it the feeling is not mutual, then." 

"I like her a lot, just not like that." Embarrassment never sat with Reynir for a long time, but he could feel it now like a smudge of clay at the bottom of his belly. "Oh no. Why do people-- HOW do people--"

"How do people flirt?"

"Yeah." Reynir looked at his brother imploringly. He knew how to be friendly. He certainly made friends easily, even if foreigners had proved more of a challenge than usual. He had no idea how to make--partners. He wasn't sure he wanted to. 

Reynir was vaguely aware that other people were more interested in that sort of thing than he was. He'd always put it down to not having met the right person yet, or not being in a place in his life where he wanted that. But he was already nineteen. It was a little strange, wasn't it? It was just that almost everything in the world was more interesting than... well, sex. Romance. Marriage... 

But he knew for sure _Hekla_ wasn't the one.

"Should I teach you?" Bjarni asked, curious. 

Reynir bit his bottom lip. "Maybe?" If he knew how to flirt, maybe he could learn how not to, as well. 

The sun teetered lower on the horizon, but it would linger there for a while still. Days were still long at this end of summer. Bjarni talked, made gestures. At one point the brothers jumped up and waved their hands, raising their voices before shushing each other simultaneously and breaking out into laughter. Reynir only hid his face three times at most. No more than four, he was sure. 

"It's all ridiculous," he concluded as the smell of roasted mutton began to float through the window Sigríður popped open to let out excess steam, Bjarni's descriptions of reverse psychology, confidence, self-possession ringing in his head like words in a foreign language. "I won't ever do any of that. It all just sounds so..." Mean. Manipulative. Dishonest. Even when Bjarni made it sound like playing a game with two partners batting at equal strength, Reynir just couldn't see the point. "I couldn't."

"You will, and you won't even notice it." Bjarni laughed. "That's the thing. You can't successfully hit on someone if it's not in you. If it is, it will happen on its own. You just can't overthink it." He spread his arms wide and turned towards the smell of dinner. 

" _Now_ you tell me not to overthink it!" Reynir threw up his hands at Bjarni's retreating back. "You've solved nothing," he said to the closing door.

Stupid Bjarni. 

Reynir considered staying out for a good sulk, but the smell of cooking called him in in an embarrassingly short time. He'd talk to Hekla later. Maybe.

He'd rather ship himself straight into the silent world.


End file.
